The challenges of today don’t come with step-by-step instructions. There’s no best practice for navigating the level of ambiguity teams are feeling right now. Today, creative problem-solving is more than a soft skill — it’s survival.

You can’t mandate creativity, but learning leaders and teams can play a pivotal role in building an environment that encourages creative thinking and innovation. You must intentionally make room for it — and trust the process along the way.

What Gets in the Way of Creativity at Work

Nobody shows up to work thinking, “Today, I’m going to play it safe and stick to the script.” But when pressure kicks in — tight deadlines, big expectations, not enough clarity — playing it safe becomes the default.

Let’s look at three reasons creativity gets stuck:

Urgency: In organizations where speed gets rewarded, the faster you can respond, the more competent you look. So, people stick with what they know. They reach for familiar answers, even when they don’t solve the real problem. When the clock’s ticking and eyes are on you, trying something new can feel like a risk you can’t afford to take.

Fear: Not the big, dramatic kind but the quiet, everyday version that keeps people from raising a hand or pushing back. It could be fear of being wrong, overcomplicating things, being labeled difficult or adding more work to their plate. Most teams don’t even realize it’s there, but it shows up subtly: ideas that never get shared, unasked questions and conversations that stay at the surface.

Lack of safety: If people don’t feel like there’s room to test an idea, ask a better question or fail without fallout, they’ll play it safe every time. That’s where learning and development (L&D) can make a real impact. It’s not just about giving people new tools — it’s about giving them the conditions to use them. Programs that build in reflection, honest dialogue and permission to experiment create the space where creative problem-solving can happen.

In short, without breathing room, support and safety, creativity on teams will suffer.

Why Traditional Training Falls Short (and What to Do Instead)

Many well-intentioned problem-solving training courses rely on structured frameworks such as fishbone diagrams or the “five whys” to provide a sense of order. But these tools, while helpful, don’t always translate to high-stakes, ambiguous environments. (Let’s face it, structure is cool, but it can be a total buzzkill to creativity.) Learners may understand the steps but freeze when the situation gets messy.

That’s because creative thinking isn’t a checklist. It’s a mindset — and one that requires space, safety and a bit of experimentation.

Let’s look at another approach that throws structure out the window.

In a recent leadership program, one group of mid-level managers was asked a provocative question to kick off a session on accountability: “What would you do if your goal was to completely destroy trust on your team?” What followed was a reverse brainstorm that revealed unspoken norms, common blockers and the emotional tension slowing their progress. By naming the worst-case behaviors, they were better equipped to identify what needed to change.

The brilliance of that approach is that it didn’t just surface problems, it made them safe to say out loud. The exercise gave people permission to be honest without fear of blame. That opened the door to real change.

Creative problem-solving can also change how people reflect. For instance, instead of ending a session with a feedback form, a more creative approach is to ask participants to interview each other. The goal is to reflect on the experience through a conversation instead of a checklist. You might ask: “How did you approach this challenge, and how did your partner approach it differently?”

We’ve seen first-hand how a small change like this made people pause and listen. They noticed patterns in how they worked, gained new language for how others thought and left with more than just a takeaway — they walked away with a new lens. When the approach is less about evaluation and more about understanding, that’s when the learning sticks.

Exercises like this push beyond surface-level problem-solving. They invite learners to play with ideas and practice reframing challenges without the fear of being wrong. Even small changes to team dynamics can open the door to better thinking.

For example:

• Start meetings with a “what if” prompt to reframe the challenge.
• Assign a rotating “creative disruptor” role to question assumptions.
• Consider adding a pre-mortem to your project plans that includes the question: “If this failed six months from now, what likely went wrong?”

These might seem simple, but they reshape the tone of team conversations by creating room for dissent, exploration and breakthrough thinking. When you shift the structure, you shift the outcomes.

Creative Problem-Solving in Action

One of the most effective ways to spark creativity is to put a few guardrails in place.

In a workshop focused on rethinking the employee experience, one group was asked to redesign onboarding but only to use existing tools and processes. No budget. No new systems. No added headcount.

At first, the constraint felt frustrating. But then teams started to get creative. They took stock of what was already working, cut what wasn’t and figured out new ways to connect the dots across departments. The result wasn’t flashy, but it worked. More importantly, it stuck because the people closest to the work built it themselves.

Another cross-functional team we worked with had completely stalled out. On paper, the task at hand was simple: Improve a process and make sure that cross-functional teams knew what to do. But every department had its own tools, their own way of working and unspoken assumptions about how they work with other teams. Collaboration felt impossibly hard. No one wanted to give up control, conversations circled about who was doing it “right” and so much time was spent documenting the current state.

We took a similar approach by introducing a constraint: Solve the problem without changing your tools or timelines. Use only what you already have and people who are already part of the process.

Again, the team pushed back at first. But then they started mapping out how information moved between departments. That’s when it clicked. The problem wasn’t the tools; it was the handoffs. The breakdowns were happening in the transitions rather than the systems.

Once that was clear, the solution came quickly: A shared checklist and a simple visual workflow — no new software, no extra meetings, just better clarity. Most importantly, the tension in the room dropped because they solved it together.

That’s what creative problem-solving often looks like in action: practical, team-driven and grounded in reality. And the best part? A successful outcome isn’t just about the solution. It’s about seeing the participants shift their mindsets and think differently.

Making the Culture Shift

When teams have regular opportunities to practice creative problem-solving, it starts to become a habit — not just a workshop activity. In companies where creative problem-solving is part of the culture, we’ve found that employees ask better questions, regularly look for trends and patterns in their work and take more ownership in outcomes. Teams have the tools and approaches to solve their own challenges as they arise, which means work happens faster and leaders have more time to focus on strategy and planning.

The shift may be quiet, but it’s powerful. Teams stop chasing certainty and start getting comfortable making progress in the gray. They don’t wait for the perfect solution — they move, test, learn and adapt. This kind of thinking isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a competitive advantage. And learning teams are in a unique position to lead the way.

By designing programs that normalize ambiguity, encourage experimentation and build team confidence, we create a culture where creativity isn’t a one-time event. It’s how problems get solved.